Home > Equality Now and partner Tasaru Ntomonok Initiative mark 10th anniversary of International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM with events in Narok, Kenya

Equality Now and partner Tasaru Ntomonok Initiative mark 10th anniversary of International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM with events in Narok, Kenya

5 February 2013

To All Editors:

International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGMACT on the UN Resolution - Intensifying global efforts for the elimination of female genital mutilation (FGM)Roundtable discussions on FGMWednesday, 6 February 2013NAROK - KENYA

Equality Now, together with regional partners around the world, will be marking the 10th anniversary of the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM on 6 February 2013 with events in Narok, Kenya. The events will revolve around the activities that are carried out by our partner in Narok, the Tasaru Ntomonok Initiative (TNI) at Tasaru Girls Rescue Centre.

TNI will hold roundtable discussions geared towards local authorities and the media to highlight their work to help girls who have fled from home to evade FGM and early marriage. The organization which provides food and accommodation for the girls and assists them in pursuing their education also supports the community in developing alternative rites of passage that do not include FGM. They also assist FGM practitioners to learn the laws that prohibit FGM and the need to find alternative income generating activities.

“TNI has been engaged in community awareness-raising and education against the practice using workshops and seminars for specific target groups such as community leaders, circumcisers, health workers, journalists, police, the youth, teachers, women’s groups and peer educators to inform them about the dangers of FGM”, says Ms. Pareiyo.

Discussions at the roundtable meeting will focus on ongoing FGM campaigns in Narok, the role of local authorities and health workers in the protection of girls from the practice, media involvement, the various legal parameters that prohibit FGM and their implementation in Narok as well as the recent (2012) UN General Assembly ban on the practice and what it means for the campaign, as well as the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, which in Article 5 specifically calls on states parties to ban all forms of FGM through legislative measures.

“Though the Government of Kenya recognizes female genital mutilation as a human rights violation and has put in place a number of legislative measures and policies to protect women and girls from this harmful practice, officials need to do more to guarantee that the law is working effectively to deter perpetrators from harming girls and take swift action when violations occur, thereby sending a strong message that FGM will not be tolerated in Kenya,” says Equality Now’s Nairobi Office Director Faiza Mohamed.

Equality Now works for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls around the world. Working with grassroots women’s and human rights organizations and individual activists since 1992, Equality Now documents violence and discrimination against women and mobilizes international action to support efforts to stop these abuses.

Tasaru Ntomonok Initiative is a local safe house for girls escaping FGM that is funded and supported by Equality Now.